Final Report Summary - DIABESITY (Novel molecular drug targets for obesity and type 2 diabetes)
The ultimate goal of the DIABESITY project was to identify and validate 4-5 novel targets for obesity and type 2 diabetes, in terms of new knowledge that contributes to the understanding of the processes and mechanisms leading to these disorders. Over the five year course of the project, the consortium has explored a large number of potential targets; some promising targets emerged only late and need much more work.
The success of the project can be illustrated by the fact we achieved all of our goals. The current number of publications arising from the project is 213, although the final number of articles arising may be substantially more than this.
Importantly, the project has strengthened European efforts in this area for many years to come as we have become more integrated and aware of possibilities for progressing particular strategies through collaboration and pooled efforts. The project has the capacity to influence future strategies in a number of ways. It has successfully demonstrated, for example, the important role of the hypothalamus in the control of appetite and energy balance, highlighting the importance of discrete nerve cell populations, of specific genes and specific mechanisms regulating those genes.
A number of novel DIABESITY targets have emerged from this work. The next stage of activity in the process leading towards the development of new drugs for treatment of these diseases, is to find out much more specific information about the targets in terms of their role in normal physiology and in their pathophysiology leading to disease.